The Harold Song
by MapleTreeway
Summary: "I see your face in strangers on the street. I still say your name when I'm talking in my sleep ...They say that true love hurts, but this could almost kill me! Young love murdered, that is what this must be!" Song-fic of "The Harold Song" by Kesha around Chihiro and Haku. Set when Chihiro's 18 and about to head off to college.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is a song fic. The song is "The Harold Song" by Kesha and I think it fits really well for Haku and Chihiro. NOTE: I **_**will**_** be changing one or two of the lines in the song to make it fit **_**perfectly**_**. Also, Chihiro sings in **_Italics_ **and Haku sings in Bold**. **Enjoy and R&R please! Set when Chihiro's 18. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the song or Spirited Away. **

Chihiro briskly walked into the forest. She was eighteen now, about to head off to a college far from the forest, and after eight years she still hadn't seen Haku. Six years of wishing that he would come; two years of thinking that he had forgotten her. So Chihiro had something in store for Haku, to let him know the pain he had caused her and for him to at least _try_ to remember her.

Chihiro soon found the same dirt road that her dad had taken in belief of a shortcut when they had moved to the blue house. "Wow. After all these years of trying to find this road again and failing, it's finally here. Wow." She muttered under her breath before following it.

In half an hour she was in front of the same two headed stone and the red entrance of the "amusement park". Chihiro started to pace back and forth - whether to go in or not. After five minutes she decided he would hear her better if she went and stood on the bridge. So she entered the dark tunnel without looking back.

Coming out of the tunnel she entered the train station and from there she walked out into the grassy meadow. Walking across the meadow she then found the river and leaped the stones with ease now because of her longer legs and bigger body. Tears caught in her eyes when she saw the steps but she fiercely climbed them occasionally wiping off a tear or two.

When Chihiro reached the top, she started to sprint across the abandoned restaurants all the way to the bridge. Gathering her breath, she straightened her shoulders and walked to the middle of the bridge. Looking at the sky she saw that it was about a half-an-hour till sunset.

Taking deep breaths, Chihiro screamed at the bathhouse, "HAKU I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME? WHAT HAPPENED?"

There was a silence. So Chihiro kept going, "WELL I DIDN'T FORGET ABOUT YOU! I WAITED AND WISHED FOR SIX YEARS THAT YOU WOULD COME BACK! WHEN THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN, I WONDERED IF YOU'VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME FOR TWO YEARS! NOW, EIGHT YEARS SINCE I'VE LAST SEEN YOU, I'M HEADED OFF TO COLLEGE FAR AWAY FROM YOU AND IT _HURTS_! DID YOU KNOW THAT?"

Once more a silence, but as Chihiro kept looking up at the bathhouse something in the windows moved. Chihiro opened her mouth, and instead of screaming, she simply said, "I came to say good-bye to you, Haku. But instead I have a song for you..."

"_I miss your soft lips. I miss your white cheeks. I miss the soft feel of your hand on my cheek. And this is so hard, cause I didn't see that you were the love of my life and it kills me. _

"_I see your face in strangers on the street. I still say your name when I'm talking in my sleep. And in the limelight, I play it all fine; but I can't handle it when I turn off my nightlight."_

"**Ahh. Ahh**. **Ah."** Haku's voice sang as if in agony.

"_But I can't handle it when I turn off my nightlight…"_

"**Ahh. Ahh. Ah..."**

"_They say that true love hurts, well this could almost kill me! Young love murdered, that is what this must be! I would give it all to not be sleeping alone! Alone…_

"_The life is fading from me while you watch my heart bleed! Young love murdered, that is what this must be! I would give it all to not be sleeping alone! Alone…_

"_Remember the time, we jumped the fence when my parents were pigs and I couldn't rescue them. You held my hand and that made me cry awhile. I swore to god that was the best time of my life._

"_Or when you took me across the world, we promised that this would last forever but now I see… It was my past life, a beautiful time - drunk off nothing but each other till the sunrise."_

"**Ahh. Ahh. Ah…"**

"_Drunk off nothing but each other till the sunrise…_

"_They say that true love hurts, well this could almost kill me! Young love murdered, that is what this must be! I would give it all to not be sleeping alone! Alone…_

"_The life is fading from me while you watch my heart bleed! Young love murdered, that is what this must be! I would give it all to not be sleeping alone! Alone…"_

"**Ahh. Ahh. Ah…"**

"_It was a past life; it was a past life. A beautiful time…"_

"**Ahh. Ahh. Ah…"**

"_Drunk off of nothing but each other till the sunrise! …Till the sunrise; till the sunrise…_

"_They say that true love hurts, but this could almost kill me! Young love murdered, that is what this must be! I would give it all to not be sleeping alone! Alone…_

"_The life is fading from me while you watch my heart bleed! Young love murdered, that is what this must be! I would give it all to not be sleeping alone! Alone…"_

Chihiro turned away from the bathhouse and trudged back across the bridge with tears spilling from her eyes. A hand touched her shoulder gently and when she looked back Haku was there with a sad look in his eyes. "Chihiro, I'm so sorry. The barrier between the Spirit World and the Human World only opens up every eight years. I'm so sorry."

Chihiro looked up at him. He looked about twenty, the same look of two years difference between them. His eyes were genuine and full of regret. He was hurting, Chihiro saw it, and he was hurting like she was, so she embraced him in a hug. They held each other for a long time and when they let go of each other, Chihiro felt the tears come back. She had to leave him again, and they both knew it.

"Haku…" Chihiro started looking into his eyes.

"Chihiro before you say anything, promise me something." Haku urged.

"Okay."

"Promise me that you won't forget about me?"

"I promise as long as you won't forget about me."

"I promise."

Chihiro looked at the setting sun in dismay. "Then I have to go before the river floods."

"Good-bye Chihiro Ogino, I love you." Haku said.

"Good-bye Haku, I love you too." Chihiro said forcing herself not to cry.

They embraced again before Chihiro turned around and ran to the river, just crossing it before it started to flood. She then slowed down and walked across the meadow before exiting through the tunnel. Once back in the forest she turned around and gave it one last look. Then she started to cry.


	2. Chapter 2

Haku watched Chihiro run back to the tunnel. His heart wrenched with pain almost too much to bear. She was gone again; he had lost her – just like he did eight years ago. Tears threatened to fall down from his eyes, but he forced himself not to cry.

"_They say that true love hurts, well this could almost kill me! Young love murdered that is what this must be!" _The words replayed in his mind over and over and soon Haku found himself not being able to shake himself free of them. They were haunting, the whole song was haunting!

For the past eight years he hadn't been happy. Every spirit could have seen that. Once Chihiro left, Haku suddenly realized how mechanic and dull his work seemed. He felt if he only existed, and wasn't alive. The only time he had felt alive was when he was with Chihiro. When he had seen her cry, quake with fear, smile, be brave. But since she left the pain just grew and grew until he felt numb.

…Until she had returned. When he saw her standing on the bridge and looking at the bathhouse, his heart swelled and he no longer felt alone and only existing, he felt alive again! But he forced himself to keep a straight face somehow sensing that something was wrong.

"HAKU I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!" Chihiro had screamed. She had said other things too and suddenly guilt and regret swept over him. _Why hadn't I visited her? _He thought. Then he remembered. _The barrier opens every eight years. Oh Chihiro, I'm so sorry…_

Then she had started to sing, and Haku had crouched down and put his head in his hands and sang, **"Ahh. Ahh. Ah…"** in agony.

Then after the song she had started to walk back to the Human World with her head down. When Haku had seen that happen, he sprinted through the bathhouse and a minute later he touched her shoulder again. Chihiro's head whipped around and her chocolate brown eyes met his. His heart started to swell again and he apologized. She had hugged him and they had hugged for a long time. So when they did break apart, he hoped that she would stay – a selfish thing to hope for really – but the look in her eyes told him she couldn't.

"Haku…" Chihiro started.

"Chihiro before you say anything, promise me something." Haku had urged.

"Okay."

"Promise you won't forget about me?"

"I promise as long as you won't forget about me."

"I promise." Then, in a few minutes she was gone and he felt dead again.

_Go after her! _A voice said in his ear. _Put on the spell Zeniba taught you and go after her! _

Haku shook his head to clear the thoughts, "No."

_Why not? Chances are slim to none she would see you again. Go after her! Ask her if she would want to work at the bathhouse!_

"No," Haku muttered under his breath. "I couldn't do that to her. I couldn't ask her to leave her parents and then go under Yobaba's contract."

_At least kiss her good-bye! _The voice pleaded.

Haku just shook his head again, "That would be giving her false hope."

A hiss sounded inside his head and suddenly the voice became harsh. _Listen, Dragon Boy, she is probably crying like the rain out there behind the barrier. Besides, the barrier is still open! If you don't go to her now, what was the purpose of the song? She loves you, you love her, what other way than to be both in the Spirit World together? _

Haku bit his lip.

_So you are agreeing with me now. Good! Go after her; ask her to come back to the Spirit World. If she says no, then well...I don't know… But if she says yes, bring her back! It's simple._

"And where would she live? I couldn't bear to give her back to Yobaba and go under the contract again!"

_She could live at Zeniba's…._

"I will not tell her where she has to live," Haku muttered darkly under his breath. "If she says yes then she can choose."

The voice became quiet so Haku started sprinting down the steps until he came to the flooded river. He quickly changed into his dragon form and flew across it until he reached the city where he proceeded to sprint like the wind. Eventually he reached the tunnel where he took a big breath before casting a spell that let him step into the Human World for only ten minutes. Stepping into the dark tunnel he walked fast until he saw a light at the end.

Haku started to run.

Only to stop when he heard someone crying just a few feet away from where he stood. He peeked outside the end of the tunnel to see Chihiro crying so hard it looked like she couldn't breathe. _Oh Chihiro…_

Haku took a step forward and accidentally broke a twig. Wincing at the loud noise, he held his breath as Chihiro whipped her head around. Her eyes grew large and she rubbed them in disbelief. "H-Haku?" she asked.

"Chihiro," he replied. "I-I came back to ask you something…"

Chihiro stood up and stared at him as he asked her if she wanted to come back to the Spirit World. A moment of silence passed between them as Chihiro tried to process what was happening.

Haku started to get uncomfortable. "You don't have to. It was only a thought…"'

In reply Chihiro ran up to him and kissed him. "I'll never leave you again." She promised.

Haku smiled and took hold of her hand as they both flew back to the Spirit World complete.


End file.
